This Zimbabwean Sculptor Takes Bitcoin for Wares
This article is part of an ongoing series called Across Africa with Bitcoin, detailing the writer’s current journey in exploring financial inclusion through Bitcoin in multiple countries across Africa.
Looking for a merchant who accepts Bitcoin in Zimbabwe is like the proverbial needle in the haystack. I have been trying to locate or discover one since my exploits got me to this country.
Even though Zimbabweans are discovering how to use Bitcoin to do cross-border payment and trading, the idea of merchants accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment has not caught up yet.
Last week I called Tawanda Kembo, the man who runs the only Bitcoin Exchange here on phone, and asked him whether he knows someone who receives Bitcoin as payment for services and products. “Look for Stan Williams, the Sculptor,” was his snappy but helpful respond. He gave me Stans number and I invited him to a Dash Meet-Up I was organising at the office of Bitfinance.
Fascinatingly, when I asked him about how he heard about Bitcoin it again led to the man who is doing so much to get Bitcoin rooted in Zimbabwe. “My friend Tawanda Kembo actually introduced me to Bitcoin two years back,” Stan, who stammers a bit, informed me.
Store of Value Did It
On what convinced him to accept Bitcoin as payment for his work, he pointed straight to the store of value ability of the crypto. “You know I live in a country where inflation is in ample abundance,” he said humorously and the two of us burst into a laughter.
He tells me he sells his products on social media and currently he’s looking for someone who could build a website for him where he can sell his stuff, and also invite other artists to sell their wares there and receive Bitcoin as payment. The dreadlocks sculptor believes that will be a good way to promote Bitcoin.
“I believe a marketplace of Africans selling handicrafts and receiving Bitcoin as payment will go a long way to promote the currency here,” Stan expressed. He plans to build and run the African Bitcoin Bazaar where Africans can sell their goods for Cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is indeed the best form of payment for such an idea since there is no headache with bank charges and you can move funds to everywhere. Stan firmly believes Bitcoin is the best means for Africans to have their economic and financial freedom.
“We can reach a global market through a platform that accepts Bitcoin and our financial worries and access to markets will be a thing of the past,” Stan added.
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Images from Frisco d’Anconia for CCN.com.
